Marijuana and Back-to-School?

From the Community…

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  Posted by Tara Fri Sep 4, 2009 8:53am PDT

  I agree with Leah. I would not call, I would instead do exactly as she said.

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  Posted by Rebekah Fri Sep 4, 2009 9:06am PDT

  A tough situation. I think that Dr. Leah was being a bit naive. Kids take drugs to school all the time, so I wouldn't assume the other boys were show-boating. On the other hand, if you tell something your child told you in confidence, he may not confide in you again in the future.

  I think the next step is to talk with your child about the situation. Why did he tell you in the first place? Since he told you, chances are good he's uncomfortable about the situation, and so he may not object to you calling the school. You could brainstorm with him about the proper way to tell the authorities--would he like it if you just called the school, or would he prefer to try an anonymous method?

  The most important thing you can do, though, is stress to him that those boys are not his friends. Friends would not have put him in that awkward situation, because if the school realizes that he knew about the drugs, he can get into trouble too. The boys may be testing him, to see how 'loyal' he is. If he keeps his mouth shut about them bringing drugs to school, then they may ask him to become more involved in their little operation (like holding drugs). The more involved he becomes, the more likely he is the one who will get into trouble. This is one way gangs recruit (and the gang problem in America is much worse than most adults realize)! He needs to realize that becoming known as a 'narc' is not the worst thing in the world, because the kind of people who would care about that reputation are the kids who would use him, not real friends.

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  Posted by GB Fri Sep 4, 2009 4:34pm PDT

  I had a similar situation happen with my son. I chose to keep his information confidetial because that is what I told him I would do. I did not want to give him a reason to feel he could not come to me with anything he needed to. My loyalty was to my child first. We discussed the situation. If you mess up one time in the trust department - you will not get free information from your child again. It was more important to me to keep our line of communication wide open and give him a few tools to use if a bad situation came up. Had he not come to me in the first place, I would not have had the opportunity to talk to him about how to deal with it. By choosing to break that promiseand losing that trust -- you will be giving up opportunies to teach your child to cope.

  I may find an exception to this rule if, however, the information I was told was that a kid was planning on bringing a gun to school. In a situation like that - you do not have the option to say no to what you are being approached with.

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  Posted by Princess Fri Sep 4, 2009 5:08pm PDT

  I would tell the people who run to school to keep their eyes open, in the least. :| Can't risk breaking the law, now, can we?

  .::Aurastar::.

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  Posted by Heidi Fri Sep 4, 2009 5:17pm PDT

  I think Dr. Leah was right for the most part, except for where she said that the adults in charge would figure it out if it really happened. At my high school, kids smoked pot in IN THE GYM DURING GYM CLASS, and the teachers never noticed.

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  Posted by JoKTM Sat Sep 5, 2009 12:03pm PDT

  I agree that you should have a conversation with your child but keeping the secret is not a "parent thing to do." When i was in Junior high and high school the school district had crime stoppers. You call anonymously and turn in your tip. If your school district does not have crime stoppers then I would suggest it. Awards are offered if a tip turns into a drug bust or prevents fights. No one ever knew at my school who was the "narc" because everyone had a home phone.

  I agree it is a sensitive matter but there are ways that your child would never be suspected as the one to tell.

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  Posted by luvpie95 Sat Sep 5, 2009 6:40pm PDT

  Yesterday at my school they brought in a dog to each classroom to sniff for drugs or gun powder. I don't have anything to hide but it freaked me out.

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  Posted by CATWOMAN Sun Sep 6, 2009 10:02pm PDT

  probaly kids just trying to be cool. as long as your kid is not doing it then i wouldnt make him be the snitch.

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  Posted by Connie S Sun Sep 6, 2009 10:24pm PDT

  This would be a good time to talk about resisting peer pressure and how to use positive peer pressure.. lectures seldom work ...

  I might mention to my child how I overheard a rumour that school may have drug sniffing dogs out this week and to be careful not to allow "friends" to hide stashes in his back pack. This bit of info to my child is likely to spread to his friends and may influence them to Change their plans.

  Our local ISD actually does have dogs to sniff through the schools frequently. They find drugs every time - so I might also ask my child if he knows anyone who was caught with drugs and ask what the consequenses were. This allows the child be the one doing most of the talking and to process his own decisions about drugs. The more practice the child has making up his own mind about drugs based on good information from the parent, the more likely he will be able to resist peer pressure, not allowing others to make up his mind for him when the parent isn't around.

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  Posted by alfredo g Sun Sep 6, 2009 10:56pm PDT

  I would ask my kid to bring me some back! Roll me up a nice joint :)

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